Fantasy Baseball Fun

I've been involved in Fantasy Baseball for close to six years now. Every year, I drafted players that I liked but probably had little to no fantasy value -- with names like Mark McLemore, Ryan Franklin, Mark Loretta, and Caesar Izturis. "Who?" you're asking. Exactly. This year, I had the help of a new found friend: J.J., who I have class with and is also a fellow intern. Apparently, he plays for big dollars with his group of friends, and thus keeps on top of the fantasy baseball game. Partly because most of the players I liked found themselves retired or outright released from MLB teams, and partly because I was tired of coming in last, I took up J. J.'s offer when he asked me if I wanted some of his fantasy baseball pointers.

They weren't so much pointers as they were his actual draft list; the one he would be using for his high-stakes fantasy game. As he put it, the list was made up with average draft positions from dozens of mock drafts (done by fantasy news sites, sports sites, and himself), further refined with his personal touch of "insider" information (read: gut feeling). He gave me the list... and I promptly forgot to take it home with me from work. However, I did have an earlier version of his draft list (yeah, there was more than one version) so I drafted off of that.

I am currently sitting, after five weeks, firmly at first place -- four games ahead of the fantasy baseball wizard known as Trevor. Pictoral proof? For sure!



Why make this post now? Because I might not be first place for the rest of the season, of course!

And for those wondering of my team (as of today):
C: Joe Mauer
1B: Mark Texiera
1B: Carlos Guillén
2B: Chase Utley
3B: Adrian Béltre
SS: Miguel Tejada (my gem in the draft, taken 14th round)
OF: Ichiro
OF: Alfonso Soriano
OF: Josh Hamilton
OF: Xavier Nady
OF: Raúl Ibañez

SP: Roy Halladay
SP: Fausto Carmona
SP: Carlos Zambrano
SP: C.C. Sabathia
SP: Tim Hudson
SP: Johnny Cueto (wanted him since spring training, traded good stuff for him)
SP: Edison Vólquez
RP: Francisco Rodríguez
RP: Joe Nathan
RP: Brandon Lyon
RP: Aquilino López (finally replaced Manny Delcarmen)

Will these people take me to the promised land of fantasy bragging rights? I hope so! I have absolutely nothing on the line.